Chapter 28 - Bonding

After we all ate, I hurried them to the car and began driving us to our next destination. I hoped they'd like it. Coming up with dates was harder than I thought. My only hope was that they would have fun.

This time, Aubrey sat next to me and messed around with my music. I didn't mind seeing as I had no preferences for music. He found something he liked and began bobbing his head to the beat. I glanced over and smiled. He looked so cute with his curls bouncing around. His tongue was peeking out of his mouth too as he danced in his seat.

A few minutes later, we arrived. Once we got out, I looked to Evander. This stop was for him mainly. By the smile on his face, I could tell I'd done well. Pride welled in my chest and I felt a smile of my own nearly split my face apart. Grabbing both of their hands, I pulled them into the bookstore.

"Thank you, Aaron," Evander said.

"Of course. I noticed you're starting to reread books so I figured you'd want to look at some more."

The bookstore was small but big enough that we were able to explore a decent amount. I quite liked the atmosphere of it. The gentle glow of artificial candles and wood flooring made it feel very rustic. There were plenty of plants hanging and a lot of rugs. Quiet music was playing in the background that added to the atmosphere. Why hadn't I come here sooner? I was never one to read a lot, but maybe I should if I get to come to places like this.

We wandered around for a bit before Evander found some books he was interested in. I found a book or two as well. Aubrey found a little alcove with seats so we sat down together and Evander offered to read the beginning of one of the books he'd been really interested in.

"Oo, yes!" Aubrey agreed, plopping down in Evander's lap once the vampire was settled in a chair.

I chuckled at his excitement and sat down on the ground by them, carefully resting my head against the chair. Evander let a hand hang down to run through my hair while he read. His voice was so smooth, Goddess. When he spoke, you couldn't help but pay attention. I briefly wondered why we hadn't forced him to read to us before. It was comforting. I fought off sleep multiple times.

"I like this book," Evander commented, waking me from my doze.

I blinked my eyes open and looked up at them. They both had teasing smiles on their faces. They caught me. "Shut up," I grumbled, looking away.

"We didn't say anything," Aubrey giggled. "I enjoyed it, too. Can you read it to us some more later?"

"I would love to," he said and surprised me by pecking Aubrey's lips.

Aubrey hummed and pecked him back. "Great. I think we should do it before bed, though. Otherwise, Aaron will keep falling asleep when he's not supposed to."

I gasped and lightly pinched Aubrey's leg. "Hey! It was just because I'm full and that makes me drowsy."

He laughed. "Right, of course."

I huffed. Since when was he so teasing? With a grumble, I stood up. "Let's go buy whatever you guys want now. There are more places to go."

They stood up as well and Aubrey walked ahead of us. Evander lingered behind to offer a small smile. "Thank you for taking us here."

"It's not that big of a deal," I muttered bashfully.

Evander hummed and lifted my chin. "Well, it is to me."

I found myself briefly getting lost in his beautiful dark eyes. There was something in his eyes that sent a small thrill through my entire body. "Aaron," he whispered.

"Yes?"

"I want to kiss you, to show you how thankful I am. Is that okay?"

It'd been a while since either of them brought up kissing and stuff. But, after spending so much time with them, learning how much I cared about them, I realized that I was ready.

I'm ready.

I didn't give him a verbal answer. Instead, I leaned up and carefully placed my lips on his. The warmth that filled my body scared me for a second, but it quickly became a soothing heat that wrapped around me. I reached out to grip his arm. The kiss was brief, but it felt like it lasted for a blissful eternity before he slowly pulled away. I looked back into his eyes and saw the utter joy shining through.

He pulled me into a hug and kissed the top of my head. "Let's go. Aubrey is probably waiting for us."

I nodded my head and pulled away from him. My cheeks felt hot. My brain was hard at work trying to process what just happened. Did I just have my first kiss with one of my mates in a bookstore?

Well, now I have to come back.

By the time I got to them at the register—apparently, Evander had walked away while I silently panicked—they were paying for the books and grabbing the bags.

Aubrey glanced over at me and smiled. I couldn't help but want to kiss Aubrey now. Not right now, but soon. The floodgates had opened. I was realizing now how much I'd missed out on. I wanted to make up for the lost time. Now that I was comfortable with the idea, I wanted to show my mates how much I cared for them.

We paid for the books and left the store. Aubrey sat up front with me again while we drove. Good. He was the one the next stop was for. I glanced over at him to see that he was excitedly looking outside at the town. The buildings began to thin out a bit and were replaced by more forestation. I could tell he was becoming more excited by the way he bounced his leg rapidly.

"Where are we going?" He asked.

"It's a secret," I said with a smirk. "You'll have to wait and see."

He hummed in acceptance and looked out the window again. Another ten minutes later, we arrived at our destination. I drove through the entrance and found a parking spot. After getting out, I grabbed Aubrey's hand and pulled him to the ticket center with Evander trailing behind.

Aubrey kept glancing around trying to figure out where we were while I paid for the tickets. Once we were left inside, we were greeted with a large sign finally revealing to him where we were. He gasped, a grin upon his face in an instant. "A butterfly garden?"

"Yeah. I figured you'd like it," I said, before pausing hesitantly. "Do you?"

"Yes!" He squealed, attacking me in a hug.

"I'm glad," I mumbled, holding him close.

He wiggled out of my arms after a moment to pull both Evander and me along. "Oo, let's go over there!"

He pulled us around the entire time we were there. I didn't mind seeing as this was for him. He was loving all of the butterflies on the flowers. At some point, a butterfly landed on my nose and my mates laughed at me as I tried to blow it off gently. Once it was off, I pouted at them. Bullies. They didn't even try to help me.

Aubrey was still laughing so I lunged forward and grabbed him. He squealed again as I began to tickle him mercilessly. We heard Evander laughing in the background, but I was more focused on making the little nymph pay for laughing at my misery.

"Aaron, I'm sorry! Stop!" He gasped between laughs.

After a few more moments of tickling him, I eased off but kept him close. "You're so mean," I heard him say.

"I'm the mean one? I had a butterfly on my nose and you didn't help me," I pointed out.

He hummed, turning around in my arms to look at me with his breathtaking eyes. "Because you looked cute trying to struggle."

My eyes narrowed in an attempt to stop the embarrassment from shining through my face. "If you say so."

"I do," he agreed with a grin.

Before I let him go, he leaned up and I expected him to kiss me on the cheek, but he paused inches away from my lips. "Can I?" He asked warily, biting his lip.

"Go ahead," I whispered, allowing him to press his lips to mine.

I immediately noticed how different Aubrey and Evander kissed. While the same warmth from before spread throughout me, Aubrey's kisses were feather-light and very gentle. Evander was gentle too, but more so like a comforting hand guiding me along. It was firm, but not bruising. But, I also noticed that I thoroughly enjoyed both of their styles. They both felt so...them.

We pulled apart only for me to watch a tear slide down Aubrey's cheek. "Are you okay?" I asked worriedly.

"Mhm, I'm just happy," he whispered tearfully. "I'm so happy."

"I am too."

I hugged him close again, swaying us from side to side. At some point, we pulled apart and went back to touring the gardens. Within an hour, we were ready to head back to the packhouse. Oh, if only I had my own house.

On our way back, we decided to stop by a fast food place for some food for Aubrey and me. Evander didn't want to eat any more that day so he politely declined. We got our food and headed back, then hurried to our room so we could settle in.

"The food smells so good," Aubrey said, setting out what he'd got on my bed

"Be careful, it might be hot," I warned while opening up my food.

Evander was seated behind me in the same position I'd found him earlier with Aubrey with his legs spread out and me between them this time. He didn't have a book, though. Aubrey was beside us with his legs crossed. I watched as he took a bite of his food and immediately flinched when he realized it was too hot.

I suppressed a laugh and instead grabbed the TV remote to see if we could find something to watch. I found something we all agreed to watch and dug into my food as soon as it was set up.

It was silent aside from the sounds of food being eaten and the occasional comment about the movie. I didn't mind, though. I'd spent basically the whole day out with my mates and it was one of the best days I've had in a long time. I could still feel the ghost of their lips on mine and it made me happier than I thought possible. Would the rest of my life be like this? I hoped so.

After we finished eating, Evander volunteered to take our trash while we got ready for bed. Aubrey and I happily agreed and went into the bathroom together. Aubrey did lean up and peck my lips after we finished brushing our teeth, which surprised me. He then bit his lip and looked away. "Let's go to bed now."

I grabbed his hand and we walked into the bedroom again. Evander was shirtless and waiting for us so he could go into the bathroom. We shuffled past him and hopped into bed together. Aubrey crawled into my lap and wrapped his arms around my neck. Before I could ask what he was doing, he was kissing me again. I was shocked, but kissed him back just as enthusiastically. It was weird knowing I could just kiss my mates like this whenever we wanted to now. It took so long for me to get used to the idea of being affectionate with them, but now I never wanted it to end.

Something in the back of my head suddenly pushed me to pull away from Aubrey's soft lips and lock into his neck. Trailing my lips down to the spot that was calling out to me, I gently sucked. He gasped, one of his hands moving through my hair to grip it and push my head closer. The next thing I knew, my canines were elongating and the something in the back of my head turned into the urge to bite down and finally claim Aubrey as one of my mates.

He must've felt my teeth brush against his skin because I heard him breathlessly whisper, "Do it. Please."

I didn't need any more prompting. My teeth sunk into his neck and he tensed for a second before relaxing. Once I was satisfied—or rather my wolf instincts were—I pulled away and licked the open wounds. They closed after a bit and I looked back up to see Evander watching us from the doorway of the bathroom. I didn't have long to look at him before Aubrey was pulling me back to his lips. We kissed for a little longer before we felt the bed dip as Evander sat down beside us.

My chin was tilted and Evander met my lips with his own. The kiss was much more aggressive than the one we shared at the bookstore, but I didn't mind. The same urge to claim him arose, so I pulled back to breathe and look at his neck.

"Go ahead," he said gently, running a hand through my hair.

I bent my head down a bit and unceremoniously bit down into his neck. He didn't seem to mind me being rough with him either. Once I was done, the burning urge inside of me was soothed and I felt exhausted. I pulled away from Evander's neck and kissed the wound after closing it up. Aubrey moved off my lap to kiss Evander and I watched them for a bit before laying down.

I tiredly noticed how intense they were becoming, so I reached out and tapped Evander's leg since it was closest to me. "Are you two going to...?" I asked.

They understood. After glancing at each other, they turned back to me and Evander nodded. "We want to. Is that alright?"

"Mhm," I hummed in agreement. "Let me move over. I might fall asleep, though."

I scooted to the edge of the bed so they could have the rest of the space. They each kissed me one last time and said good night. I didn't think it was weird that they were about to mate with me right next to them. It was oddly intimate, but not in a bad way. I wasn't involved and that's all I really cared about. I didn't see them in a sexual light anyway, so it felt more like them doing an activity they could enjoy together while I enjoyed the fact that they were happy.

At some point, I turned away from them to give them some sort of privacy. I fell asleep like that, but when I woke up again, I was plastered between them. They'd showered given how clean they smelled, but they'd both opted for just wearing briefs and leaving it at that. I didn't mind. I pulled Aubrey closer since he was snuggled against me while I felt Evander's arm around me tighten.

My mates. We were finally bonded. We'd be able to link each other now. I wasn't sure if Aubrey needed to mark me as well, but it didn't seem like it.

That didn't matter, though. We were all mated and bonded now. Details could wait. For now, I wanted to enjoy the warmth of the two people I cared about most in this entire universe.

~~~

This felt so rushed but it also felt right XD I hope y'all are satisfied with the journey they've taken as mates. Their story is sadly coming to a close, but the last book is still going to have them around! We have about 2-3 chapters left until the end. I don't think I'll have an epilogue for this one. I'm not sure yet. Either way, this is the end! I can't believe it XD

Stay tuned for more insanity and thank you so much for reading!

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